Forum home› Plants

Tom thumb winter casualty.

tomdexterscottMoEpri-ttomdexterscottMoEpri-t Posts: 21
in Plants
So, apart from my cordylines looking like they have been lost to the winter and an Acer that just looks like brown twigs with no buds. Im wondering if my tom thumb has also been lost. It's dropped it's leafs and some are handing on. But while other plants likes acers, dog woods, and other shrubs have started to bud the tom thumb remains very stick like. I've even done the scratch test and there seems to be no green in those sticks. 

So my question. Is it a goner. I know it's early doors but how long do I leave it. Is there anything I can do to promote new growth. 

Thanks. 


«1

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,433
    Too early to tell. My hardy fuchsia looks sick, but I expect it to sprout from the base.  I prune nothing down until warmer weather after easter.  Top growth tends to protect the base a bit.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 23,117
    I would leave it until spring is properly here, but don't be surprised if it doesn't make it. I lost one some years ago after a cold winter.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,278
    My local GC has about twenty or so all partly defoliated, cold winds I think. I would wait but not looking good. I think Tom Thumb is more tender than some of the green forms? I  grow Tom Thumb but it is in a sheltered sunny spot it is OK having lost a few leaves. You can get away with more if you can find the right spot. I wouldn't consider in planting one anywhere else in the garden
    Looking forward to my new garden with clay soil here in South Notts.

    Gardening is so exciting I wet my plants. 
  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,823
    For the first in 10 years, several of our varieties of Pittosporum have been mostly or almost completely defoliated. We'll wait a few month to see if they come back. If we lose any, we will replace with something more hardy. A shame, as we love them, and have many varieties in our garden.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,079
    Is that Fuchsia "Tom Thumb" or Pittospormum "Tom Thumb"?
    If it's fuchsia, they're supposed to lose their leaves although they can keep them in a mild winter. I would leave it alone with the old dead growth in place for least another month or six weeks before giving up on it. It might grow back from ground level even if the old stems are dead. Some of my hardy fuchsias are showing signs of growth but it's early days yet.
    I don't grow Pittospormum but they are evergreen so losing all the leaves isn't a good sign.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,428
    edited 27 February
    The member doesn't say where he is in the country, so I presume he's had freezing winds and snow? which can be a problem in exposed locations for these..

    My 2 are exposed and I've had them some 10 years.. I don't think they've ever defoliated..
    Not rubbing it in, but they both look like this..  apart from several -8C this winter, I've missed the freezing wind conditions we often get here which can take a few of the top leaves off ..



    I too think the member should leave his for a while yet, as I know they can regenerate from low down..
    East Anglia, England
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,012
    edited 27 February
    Many hardy fuchsias are not wood-hardy but will arise again from the roots.

    Although, I did lose a normally hardy Empree of Prussia in a very cold winter (±1987).  My 3m high magellanica alba survived the last two winters but with new growth singed.  This year it is dead as far back as I have scratched. let's hope the root has survived.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 54,353
    I have to admit - I immediately though this was a query about  Pittosporum, simply because I don't like fuchsias, and don't grow them very often - and then only the hardy white ones. It does look more likely to be a fuchsia though, but many Pittosporums aren't very hardy depending where you are. Wet, cold conditions are the problem, as with so many plants. Dry cold is far easier for them to cope with.  

    This can often be the problem when someone asks a question but only gives a variety name, rather than what species it is. Can you clarify @tomdexterscottMoEpri-t?   :)

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,428
    Pittosporum..

    East Anglia, England
  • tomdexterscottMoEpri-ttomdexterscottMoEpri-t Posts: 21
    Thanks or your replies. 

    Not sure of the variety. Just know it is suppose to be evergreen and looks like the pic that someone else posted. 

    It's been in for 4 years and has been fine. But up here in Cheshire we had that week long cold snap in December then warm, then cold, then warm. I've lost a lot of things that normally thrive or survive through the winter. My cordylines have all gone, acers, load of evergreen shrubs. 

    I'm thinking the hot summer might not have helped. 

    I'll wait to see what April brings. But almost everything is budding apart from some acers and this. 
Sign In or Register to comment.